A few NPC characters that wish to create their own destiny
A few NPC characters that wish to create their own destiny.
This does not need to be a fully fledged AI thing.
It could be created with a variety of custom goal trees. (personality destiny tree)
They are there to add disruption to the general flow of the games background and routines.
They will offers the player more complex encounters. Their goals at any moment will determine their current hostility/friendship status or lack thereof.
They are personalities that have evolved from normal NPCs.
Their previous duties may have an impact on how they make decisions.
They may have traits that effect their decisions.
There can only be a limited amount of these personalities. A personality will exist for each completed sector. A new Personality NPC may be chosen to evolve from a NPC in any advanced sector.
If one dies a new one can be chosen to evolve, pick a type of destiny and start their journey.
Personal Destiny Types
Freight operator - shipping company
Explorer - to boldly wonder the Almagest system and beyond
Rebel leader
Archaeologist
Botanist
Mining magnet
News reporter - takes photographs and writes facts.
Sleuth Detective Bounty hunter - specialises in hunting other personalities
Science researcher
Path maker Independent odd jobber
Pilgrim cult leader
Sea Lord
Master Salvager
Ship yard owner
Military commander
Hotel chain boss - travel and tourism
Crime boss
Cannery food trader Agri boss
A personality destiny tree of any type may be used by more than one personality. There could be some competitiveness between personalities or temporary partnerships/alliances.
These Personalities will travel, own or build grids, trade and offer contract, recruit, gift or steal, and will engage in combat. They will accumulate resources among other things to climb their goal ladders.
Is any of this feasible ? I am sure that it is. It will need a frame work.
Would it add to gameplay and the games distinction ? Yes.
Do I hear the naysayers complain as per usual ? Yes.
Will it make the game feel more alive? Yes.
Do I need someone to re-express this in a more coherent form ? Probably.
I like this feedback
A newly evolved personality NPC will need to complete a set of task goals to reach there desired(designated) goal peak.
At their peak they will seek to extend their influence and maintain their personal status.
A newly evolved personality NPC will need to complete a set of task goals to reach there desired(designated) goal peak.
At their peak they will seek to extend their influence and maintain their personal status.
How does this work in a sand box game, it could for a curated campaign, but could it work for general play ?
I think it could if new personalities including new evil villains were allowed to come into being, evolve and progress.
The personality's empire could gradually grow until either you got in their way or they got into yours.
As this type of NPC is being replaced and new ones are allow to develop as necessary, the sandbox game will not run out of opposition.
There could be the chance that two NPC personalities find themselves in conflict with each other and you could make the difference into which became dominant or resolve the reason for their dispute.
What has any of this got to do with engineering ?
What you create could change the balance of the events that unfold, a reason to create, a reason to problem solve and an imperative against time.
Personalities will set wheels in motion, things will happen outside of routine.
How does this work in a sand box game, it could for a curated campaign, but could it work for general play ?
I think it could if new personalities including new evil villains were allowed to come into being, evolve and progress.
The personality's empire could gradually grow until either you got in their way or they got into yours.
As this type of NPC is being replaced and new ones are allow to develop as necessary, the sandbox game will not run out of opposition.
There could be the chance that two NPC personalities find themselves in conflict with each other and you could make the difference into which became dominant or resolve the reason for their dispute.
What has any of this got to do with engineering ?
What you create could change the balance of the events that unfold, a reason to create, a reason to problem solve and an imperative against time.
Personalities will set wheels in motion, things will happen outside of routine.
Case Study: Sin-D EP01
Sin-D started as a mild mannered NPC assisting on a space station. She had her daily routine of starting the day with her usual walk around the station, looking busy and purposeful for any passing engineer to see. Often she would wave at the engineers and then move on, passing through doors and sitting down for a while.
All that was fine until one day whilst Sin-D was sitting down, an episode of Futurama happened to be running on a nearby LCD. It was an episode featuring the antagonist of the show 'Mom' aka Carol Miller. That day something clicked in Sin-D, no longer was she satisfied with her station duty, she now had ambition.
Sin-D had decided that she wanted to become Almagest's foremost tourism mogul and she would do what ever it took to get there.
She started small, working with the ship owners that made a regular calls to the station. She convinced a few of them to build a passenger cabin or two on their crafts. She began advertising a day trip transit passage between two stations for venturous 'see the sights' colonists. Initially the interest was poor, eventually word spread and with curiosity one or two colonists took Sin-D up on her offer. Some of the more enthusiastic travellers were encouraged, by the offer of a meagre discount, to give a good review and convince others to try out the trip, this worked incredibly well.
Sin-D's empire began to expand, new routes came online and the ship captain's found that business was good. Over time Sin-D accumulated enough wealth to commission the construction of her own vessel, Almagest's first travel liner. It had many cabins and leisure activities on board, shops, bars and some games of chance. What Sin-D lacked now was a range exotic destinations to entice further trade, but this would not be a problem for long.
Sin-D had read reports of several beauty locations with magnificent views. She employed one of her regular tourists to be a scout, take photos and write reports on the areas that engineers often spoke about on social media. Soon Sin-D would be ready to exploit these locations to realise her dreams. Unspoilt, magnificent, and ready for the taking, Sin-D provided for the growing travel appetite of the expanding colony.
One day, one of Sin-D scouts came calling at your base and asked you if you were willing to sell and move on. You said that you weren't interested, and that is where your troubles began....
end
Case Study: Sin-D EP01
Sin-D started as a mild mannered NPC assisting on a space station. She had her daily routine of starting the day with her usual walk around the station, looking busy and purposeful for any passing engineer to see. Often she would wave at the engineers and then move on, passing through doors and sitting down for a while.
All that was fine until one day whilst Sin-D was sitting down, an episode of Futurama happened to be running on a nearby LCD. It was an episode featuring the antagonist of the show 'Mom' aka Carol Miller. That day something clicked in Sin-D, no longer was she satisfied with her station duty, she now had ambition.
Sin-D had decided that she wanted to become Almagest's foremost tourism mogul and she would do what ever it took to get there.
She started small, working with the ship owners that made a regular calls to the station. She convinced a few of them to build a passenger cabin or two on their crafts. She began advertising a day trip transit passage between two stations for venturous 'see the sights' colonists. Initially the interest was poor, eventually word spread and with curiosity one or two colonists took Sin-D up on her offer. Some of the more enthusiastic travellers were encouraged, by the offer of a meagre discount, to give a good review and convince others to try out the trip, this worked incredibly well.
Sin-D's empire began to expand, new routes came online and the ship captain's found that business was good. Over time Sin-D accumulated enough wealth to commission the construction of her own vessel, Almagest's first travel liner. It had many cabins and leisure activities on board, shops, bars and some games of chance. What Sin-D lacked now was a range exotic destinations to entice further trade, but this would not be a problem for long.
Sin-D had read reports of several beauty locations with magnificent views. She employed one of her regular tourists to be a scout, take photos and write reports on the areas that engineers often spoke about on social media. Soon Sin-D would be ready to exploit these locations to realise her dreams. Unspoilt, magnificent, and ready for the taking, Sin-D provided for the growing travel appetite of the expanding colony.
One day, one of Sin-D scouts came calling at your base and asked you if you were willing to sell and move on. You said that you weren't interested, and that is where your troubles began....
end
im both fond of, and horrified by the idea that perhaps an npc on my crew could cultivate experience from working with me that they one day eventually decide, "hey boss, i quit, im gonna go wander the stars on my own.... oh, and im stealing your ships escape pod to do it.... toodles!"
im both fond of, and horrified by the idea that perhaps an npc on my crew could cultivate experience from working with me that they one day eventually decide, "hey boss, i quit, im gonna go wander the stars on my own.... oh, and im stealing your ships escape pod to do it.... toodles!"
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